Friday, 2 February 2018

Horror Review: Strangeland (1998)

A detective pursues a sadist specializing in body modification rituals who lures teenagers through the internet.As someone who is a big fan of the the rock band Twisted Sister, I was seriously excited when I heard that Dee Snider was actually making a Horror film.

One thing I remember about first seeing this film is experiencing excitement, intrigue and nervousness all at once. The anticipation was horrible, I really wanted this film to be good, I don't often get like that but every once in a while a film will come along that will do this to me.

Luckily I wasn't let down and I'm sure that sentiment is shared with many other people who felt the same way I did, that rode along that same emotional roller coaster. Talking of roller coasters the film itself also takes you on a ride, a very uncomfortable one at that.

I've often said that this movie was way ahead of its time, you have to remember that it predates films such as "SAW" and before the whole 'Torture Porn' label started getting thrown around. Whilst the story might seem dated 20 years later, it was new ground at the time.Dee Snider wrote an amazing script, he also performed fantastically as our villain and there's even an appearance from Robert Englund. Whilst this film has gathered a cult following over the years this film should have been bigger, I'm also still waiting for the sequel.

"Strangeland" is certainly not to everybody's taste, but if you haven't seen it then I highly recommend that you make it a priority as you are truly are missing out on something special.

If you want to see the "Strangeland" trailer then just click on the video below:

Miscellaneous facts about the film:

On the DVD commentary, Dee Snider mentioned that filming the scenes with Carleton Hendricks wearing a cardigan were the hardest parts of the movie to shoot. Snider hated wearing the cardigan.The newspaper clippings you see in the movie were wrote by Dee Snider, as spoken in the commentary track. His reason is "for all you DVD nuts out there who'd pause and read them for continuity."When the mob gathers around Carleton Hendricks' house, someone is holding a sign that says "We're not gonna take it". This is also the title of the biggest single from Dee Snider's band Twisted Sister.Based loosely on the Twisted Sister song "Horror-Teria" from their album "Stay Hungry" (1984).Robert Englund and Kevin Gage later appeared together in Fear Clinic (2014).